Chapter 8 - The Man Who Saw Jacob Fall
Samuel Reeves agreed to meet in a diner in Queens.
He was fifty-four.
Thin.
Gray beard.
Workman’s hands.
He chose a booth facing the door.
“I've spent five years telling myself it wasn't my business,” he said.
“A man died.”
“I know.”
“Then it was your business.”
He accepted that.
“Jacob found defective anchor plates on levels thirty through thirty-two.”
“Defective how?”
“Wrong grade steel. Some showed premature corrosion because they’d been stored improperly.”
“Who supplied them?”
“A subcontractor.”
“Did we know?”
“Jacob did.”
“Martin?”
Samuel looked at me.
“Yes.”
“Victoria?”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more than I expected.
“What exactly did she know?”
“She attended the April seventeenth meeting.”
The photograph.
Dad.
Jacob.
Victoria.
“Why?”
“She handled financing milestones.”
Riverside Crown had a massive construction loan.
A scheduled bank inspection determined whether the next funding tranche would be released.
A delay could have cost millions.
Samuel continued.
“Jacob wanted the scaffold section closed immediately.”
“And Victoria?”
“She asked how long repairs would take.”
“How long?”
“Two weeks.”
“What did she say?”
Samuel’s jaw tightened.
“She said we had forty-eight hours before the lender inspection.”
I felt sick.
“What did my father say?”
“He agreed with Jacob.”
I looked up.
“Dad?”
“Thomas told Martin to shut the section down.”
That matched Dad’s note.
“Then why didn't it happen?”
“Because after Thomas left, Martin ordered temporary reinforcement.”
“Temporary?”
“Not enough.”
“And Victoria?”
Samuel looked toward the window.
“She told Martin the bank couldn't see a shutdown notice.”
My hands clenched.
“Did she order Jacob onto the scaffold?”
“No.”
That mattered.
“Did Martin?”
“Not exactly.”
“What happened?”
“Jacob came back the next morning because he thought repairs were happening.”
“They weren't.”
“Some were.”
Samuel rubbed his forehead.
“Martin brought in a crew overnight. They replaced visible anchors near inspection access points.”
“Only visible ones.”
“Yes.”
“Jacob discovered it.”
Samuel nodded.
“He lost his mind.”
Good.
He should have.
“He said he was calling the city and the lender.”
“What happened next?”
“Martin took his phone.”
My stomach tightened.
“He what?”
“He said they needed to talk first.”
“Victoria?”
“She arrived twenty minutes later.”
“Why?”
“Martin called her.”
Samuel’s voice became quieter.
“They argued inside the trailer.”
“What did you hear?”
“Jacob said somebody would die.”
“And Victoria?”
“She said if he filed a report before financing cleared, hundreds of workers could lose their jobs.”
A rationalization.
The kind intelligent people used when they wanted selfish decisions to sound moral.
“Then?”
“Jacob left.”
“Onto the scaffold?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He wanted photographs.”
Samuel closed his eyes.
“He climbed to level thirty-one.”
“What happened?”
“One anchor failed.”
The booth felt suddenly too small.
“Did anyone cause it?”
“Not directly.”
“Then why did you say the failure wasn't random?”
“Because everyone knew that anchor shouldn't have been carrying weight.”
Silence.
Jacob had not been murdered.
Not in the cinematic sense.
No one pushed him.
No one cut a rope while he watched.
Something worse had happened.
People with power had knowingly allowed a dangerous condition to remain because correcting it was inconvenient.
Jacob died inside that decision.
“What did the investigation conclude?”
“Unexpected component failure.”
“Who falsified the inspection?”
“Martin signed it.”
“And Victoria?”
“She prepared the lender package.”
“Did my father know?”
“Not until after Jacob died.”
“Then why didn't he go public?”
Samuel looked ashamed for a man who had done nothing.
“Because Martin convinced him the company would collapse.”
I stared.
“So Dad covered it up too.”
“Eventually.”
That truth hurt.
My father had ordered the repair.
Then protected the lie.
Nobody was clean.
“What about Jacob’s settlement?”
“I don't know.”
“North Vale?”
Samuel’s face changed.
“What?”
“You know that name.”
He looked toward the door.
“Nathan, you should stop.”
“No.”
“I came here to tell you about Jacob.”
“Tell me about North Vale.”
Samuel lowered his voice.
“It was the subcontractor’s consulting company.”
“Jonathan Vale?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“I never knew the real owner.”
“Victoria owns sixty percent now.”
Samuel’s eyes widened.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
He leaned back.
“Oh, God.”
“What?”
“North Vale got the replacement contract.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“What replacement contract?”
“After Jacob died, Cole paid them to ‘remediate’ the defect.”
“How much?”
“Millions.”
It clicked.
The accident had created the excuse for payments.
Payments moving through a company controlled by Victoria and Martin.
The cover-up wasn't only about protecting Riverside Crown.
Someone had profited from fixing the problem they hid.
I left the diner with Samuel’s signed statement and the name of another witness.
Andrea Bell.
Former controller.
Dad’s list.
I called Serena.
“Look for all Riverside payments to North Vale after Jacob’s death.”
“Nathan.”
“What?”
“We already found them.”
“How much?”
“Two point six million.”
I closed my eyes.
“Actual remediation cost?”
“Preliminary estimate?”
“Yes.”
“Under nine hundred thousand.”
Over a million dollars unexplained.
My phone buzzed.
Claire.
CALL ME NOW.
I answered.
“What happened?”
“Victoria came to Dad’s house.”
“What?”
“She's out on bail.”
“I know. Why was she there?”
“She had a key.”
“Did she get inside?”
“Yes.”
My blood went cold.
“What did she take?”
“I don't know yet.”
“Call police.”
“I already did.”
I heard Claire moving.
Then she stopped.
“Nathan.”
“What?”
“I found Dad’s office open.”
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“Claire?”
“The lockbox is gone.”
